Worship that first year

Pastor Keith and the Middleberry Church relished the early years.  Things were simple then (later the staff of Middleberry would look back on these years as the golden years of ministry)!  For the most part the building was empty during the week, but it came alive on Sunday Morning.

Trevor (the new part-time worship pastor) led the congregation in a mixture of hymns and contemporary songs.  At 20 hours a week, Trevor did all he could to lead dynamic worship.  His heart had always been set of being a rock musician, but at his age, dreams change.  Trevor set out to make worship at Middleberry as lively and transformational as possible.  The people at Middleberry were a tough sell though.  He had led worship on Wednesday nights at GracePoint prior to the plant.  Pastor Keith was the main speaker every week during that service.  Wednesday nights at GracePoint held a different group of people than most of the other services.  They expected the songs they had always sung! These were the people that had come over to Middleberry.

Trevor's heart was drawn towards contemporary worship music; the Middleberry Church wanted traditional.  The "fit" was wearing off quickly.  Where Trevor pushed; the church (and following close behind Pastor Keith) pushed back.  The biggest issue for Trevor was understanding that he had taken the job with.  When interviewed, Trevor was told that the people of Middleberry wanted dynamic worship that would reach out to the community.  But what they really wanted was a fine mixture of hymns and 80's Christian power ballads.  For the first time (and it certainly wouldn't be the last) what Middleberry said they wanted, and what they would stand to fight for, would be two axiomatically different things.

Soon enough Trevor was getting on people's nerves.  Though he angered and upset people, it never dissuaded them from asking him to acquiesce to their needs, so Trevor was asked to do great things with limited means.  Since Trevor was adept at sound systems Middleberry relied heavily on him to do amazing things with limited means.  Since Trevor was gifted at many instruments, many asked him to give lessons to their kids.  Ridicule him on Sunday, praise him on Monday.  The Middleberry family viewed Trevor through the lens of their last interaction with him.

Trevor struggled during the rest of his tenure there at Middleberry.  He constantly struggled to walk the fine line the congregation had asked of him.  He panicked while putting together set lists because he never quite knew who he would offend.  If he spoke in the middle of the set, he never knew if he would have an email later from Pastor Keith.  When he spoke during worship, he was never sure of how much information to give about his struggles.

The wheels were coming off for Trevor and the leadership were none the wiser!  That is the advantage of never meeting, no one has to be burdened with the struggles of another.  The Church went on as they always did, oblivious to the events inside the walls of Middleberry!

New Staff at Middleberry

As noted earlier, Middleberry Church (the reincarnation) was going well.  Sunday Mornings were packed (almost too packed as you read earlier), but Monday through Saturday the rooms of Middleberry Church remained silent.  As a fledgling church there were few programs up and running that first year.  There was no children's programs or bible studies, no choir practice or support groups.  There was little going on really.  Pastor Keith sat in his office 5 days a week and worked on sermons.

But Pastor Keith also performed all the counseling, maintenance, and publication tasks.  The books were still done at GracePoint where Pastor Keith also maintained an office (though he was never present there), but for the most part Middleberry was fairly independent and under staffed.  All of these tasks led Keith to realize that he was out maned, especially in a church of 350 people.

Enter in: Patricia.  Patricia had too grown frustrated with the direction of GracePoint towards the end.  The new pastor at GracePoint had rubbed her the wrong way as well.  What was done exactly, one cannot say but suffice to say her anger resounded strongly.  Patricia had recently left her job and needed a replacement.  She had never worked in a church and was relatively new to computers, but her zeal for working at Middleberry surpassed her lack of training and preparation.  Keith had been looking for someone to handle the publications, phone calls, and books at Middleberry.  The "fit" was just too perfect.  Patricia had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but she wanted the job so bad and Keith was so eager to fill the position that he hired her immediately, like he said "the 'fit' was just too perfect."

Not only was there a new person handling the phones, there was a new person manning an office.  Pastor Keith had counseled people for years, but GracePoint's problems were significantly different than the problems that he would face down at Middleberry.  The door at Middleberry was constantly assualted by people needing help with rent, a ride, money for food, and/or clothes.  Paroles and Partiers, teen mothers and teen runaways.  Pastor Keith was soon to understand what a different world that he now worked in.  For years he had been secluded in the suburbia surrounding GracePoint, now he was thrust into the heart of the city surrounding Middleberry.  Pastor Keith needed someone to come and take the burden of these people off of his plate.

Enter in: Steve.  Pastor Steve had grown up out West.  Though he had accepted Christ at an early age, he found difficulty living out his faith.  He had run into law trouble and found himself in prison early on in his life.  When he was released from prison he returned to his boyhood church and began to better understand how his faith was to be lived out.  Steve had always had a passion to do ministry and through some differing circumstances he found himself running into Pastor Keith.  Pastor Steve, though lacking any formal training and by his own admission "biblical knowledge" began to talk to Keith about adding him to the staff at Middleberry.  Keith needed someone to work with the broken people of the Middleberry neighborhood, Steve needed a place to live out his dream.  Steve had a passion for the people around Middleberry, and Keith needed a some assistance.  Though Steve was unable to help preach and had no teaching experience, the "fit" was just too perfect.  Though Steve had absolutely no idea where to start a ministry (and Keith offered no job description), the "fit" was just too perfect.  Keith could return to his sermons, Steve could write his own job description.  Without a direction and without a vision, the two men headed off into the future leading a group of people who were quickly forgetting who they were and the final piece of the puzzle was soon to come.

Leading worship was never Pastor Keith's forte.  He had done it a little bit at GracePoint but wasn't real excited about doing it on a weekly basis.  GracePoint had donated some drums and a piano, but Keith didn't feel up to organizing a praise band on a weekly interval.

Enter in: Trevor.  Trevor had grown up in the church.  He had attended GracePoint for years and had even led some worship there from time to time.  He was a phenomenally gifted musician.  He could not convince GracePoint to bring him on as a worship pastor; but Keith was more than happy to offer him the position.  Keith was given advice by GracePoint's lead pastor to bring in a worship leader of different ethnicity.  As any cross cultural missionary knows, "without diversity in the pulpit, there is no diversity in the pews."  GracePoints Pastor had even offered up the names of some talented worship leaders who were interested.  Pastor Keith was set on Trevor.  The "fit" was just too perfect.  Trevor needed a place to lead, Keith needed a worship pastor.  Trevor needed a chance to progress, Keith needed a break from leading.  Trevor started that month.

The "fit" was just too perfect.  This method of selecting staff would become the standard.  This method would lead to some serious issues later on in the life of Middleberry Church.  Without a direction for the church..."fit" dictates future.  Without a vision..."fit" leads us down roads that are difficult to traverse.  "Fit" became a synonym for easy and simple.  "Fit" became an excuse to make no effort.  Sadly enough "fit" would become the MO of Middleberry.

Pastor Keith alongside Pastor Steve, Worship Pastor Trevor and Assistant Patricia set off to lead Middleberry Church into the next stages of their development...but still the "fit" with the neighborhood still wasn't perfect!